Days Missing #2

Written by David Hine
Art by Chris Burnham

I always find it interesting how certain ideas or concepts can suddenly appear a few times in comics within such a short span, it is clear that one piece of work couldn't have been influenced by another. We've seen quite a few of these memes in comics lately: zombies and bad guys taking over are two of the higher-profile ones. It seems that there is some sort of Frankenstein meme going around as well. Just two months after Warren Ellis dug into this concept, Archaia's interesting new title 'Days Missing' goes there too.

In this comic, the Phantom Stranger (I know that's not his name, but it may as well be) makes an appearance in 1815 to stop humanity from learning how to resurrect the dead. Some kooky professor has worked out how to do just that, and it so happens that he is, at the same time, neighbour to the Shelley family. While the Phantom Stranger is able to erase days from human existence (hence the name of the comic), the events linger in Mary Shelley's consciousness, and later become the impetus for her most famous novel.

This is a very well written story. Hine provides us with enough historical context, but doesn't get lost in the details. His Phantom Stranger is largely left a cipher, but I'm sure that's intentional. Burnham's art looks fantastic. His faces are very expressive, and the colours look great.

I like the concept behind this book, and really like the rotating creative teams. The next issue features work by Lee Moder, whose name I haven't seen in quite some time.